Matthew and Shane get embroiled with a reggae sound system in South London in the late seventies in Franco Rosso's blistering Babylon from 1980. Notes: Trailer for Babylon: https://youtu.be/t_xhN87G8bk Incredible archive for Babylon: https://www.uncarved.org/babylon/ Babylon locations then and now: https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/babylon-franco-rosso-locations-london
The Christmas 2020 Special. Matthew and Shane find themselves on opposing sides in this wartime battle for the spirit of Christmas and the soul of man. Good will is in short supply. Notes: Fascinating article on Keith Gordon: https://longreads.com/2018/01/25/the-many-acts-of-keith-gordon/ Roger Ebert's review: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-midnight-clear-1992 Mark Isham's 'My Wife With Champagne Shoulders': https://youtu.be/UDV4cVMN9HE
Matthew and Shane go toe-to-toe on the court of cinema. Shane attempts to slam-dunk Spike Lee's 'He Got Game' as a bona-fide (but flawed) masterpiece. Matthew rebounds with a vicious counter and a couple of fouls. This one is gonna need a time out. Links: He Got Game Trailer: https://youtu.be/h4uJ6938buE Vanity Fair 20th Anniversary Article: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/05/he-got-game-20th-anniversary Roger Ebert's 1998 Review: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/he-got-game-1998
Shane and Matthew look for their dignity as they join The Party of Dynamic Erection in a bid to better understand British male... stuff. Trailer for Little Malcolm: https://youtu.be/K3DseWf-Nlc Article from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/oct/30/george-harrison-little-malcolm-handmade Mike Leigh on David Halliwell: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jul/07/mike-leigh-on-playwright-david-halliwell-little-malcolm
Shane and Matthew flash their assets and high-kick their way through Michael Ritchie's exquisite beauty pageant satire 'Smile' from 1975. Notes: Trailer for Smile: https://youtu.be/tbdKZQcxKYM BFI Championing Bruce Dern: https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/championing-bruce-dern-king-marvin-gardens Local history of 'Smile' from Santa Rosa: https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/gaye-lebaron-when-smile-made-santa-rosans-do-anything-but/?artslide=2
Matthew and Shane get lost in Germany with Wim Wender's astonishing and tender road trip classic from 1974. Notes: Trailer for 'Alice In The Cities': https://youtu.be/MoRe7srFtZ8 MOMA archive footage of Wuppertal Suspended Railway from 1902: https://youtu.be/MoRe7srFtZ8 Wim Wenders interview with BFI: https://youtu.be/FbzFZ0CjEVY
In the pilot episode Shane and Matthew look at Ken Russell's 1980 sci-fi horror Altered States. Notes: Video enhanced version of this episode: https://youtu.be/3Fd-KAHBRH0 Trailer for Altered States: https://youtu.be/0XNVQ4ILPBA IMDB listing for Altered States: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080360/
Shane and Matthew reach the end of season 2 with a wonderful slice-of-life Americana from James Mangold; his debut and mini-masterpiece 'Heavy' from 1995. Notes: Mangold's filmmaker tips: https://filmschoolrejects.com/filmmaking-tips-james-mangold-9c10355d5a88/ Mangold on Mackendrick: https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/logan-director-james-mangold-discusses-183056098.html 9 Movies where Shelly Winters dies in the middle: http://cassavafilms.com/list-of-9/nine-movies-in-which-shelley-winters-dies-in-the-middle
Matthew and Shane buckle up for a classic British road movie that foregoes the tropes of the genre and instead offers a mesmerising cinematic scrapbook of late 70's music, images and philosophy. Notes: Locations then and now: https://www.reelstreets.com/films/radio-on/ Film Comment review: https://www.filmcomment.com/article/vision-radio-on/ 2013 Interview with Chris Petit: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/man-on-the-outside-27967.html Further reading: https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/interviews/chris-petit-radio-on-interview https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/oct/02/featuresreviews.guardianreview13 https://www.closeupfilmcentre.com/vertigo_magazine/volume-4-issue-1-autumn-winter-2008/germany-and-england-england-and-germany-proposal-for-a-film/ https://psychogeographicreview.com/film-of-the-month-march-2012-radio-on/ https://www.radicalphilosophy.com/article/spirit-of-the-bauhaus-in-electronic-sounds
Shane is joined by Sam Baws for a surprisingly tender road trip across the US. Harry Dean Stanton stars as a man trying to reconcile the destructive effects of his past mistakes in Wim Wender's visually striking 'Paris, Texas' from 1984. Notes: Info on Paris Texas: https://wimwendersstiftung.de/en/film/paris-texas-en/ NY Times period review: https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/14/movies/paris-texas-from-wim-wenders.html Article on Wenders' Stills Photography: https://www.vogue.com/article/paris-texas-film-wim-wenders-photographs
Shane and Matthew investigate the fishy true life tale of journalist Stephen Glass and his work for The New Republic in Billy Ray's highly recommended newsroom thriller 'Shattered Glass' from 2003. Notes: Buzz Bissinger's Vanity Fair article: https://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/1998/09/bissinger199809 The New Republic's 2014 Glass article: https://newrepublic.com/article/120145/stephen-glass-new-republic-scandal-still-haunts-his-law-career
Matthew and Shane try to catch their breath with Lodge Kerrigan's intense portrait of a man on the precipice of a mental health collapse. Arresting, unnnerving and unforgettable. Notes: Trailer for Keane: https://youtu.be/6QhY17g8QBs Interview with Lodge Kerrigan: https://www.indiewire.com/2005/09/on-the-edge-lodge-kerrigan-talks-collapse-and-chance-in-keane-77998/ Interview with Damian Lewis: https://www.damian-lewis.com/2016/01/18/19968.php All images are copyright the original owners.
Shane is joined by Adam Lowes to discuss James Foley's 1986 classic 'At Close Range' starring Sean Penn and Christopher Walken as an estranged father and son reunited to embark on a life of crime in this bloody violent, true-life thriller. Notes: Rogert Ebert's period review: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/at-close-range-1986 Trailer for At Close Range: https://youtu.be/nANVblfeTH4 Madonna's video for 'Live To Tell': https://youtu.be/IzAO9A9GjgI
Shane and Matthew celebrate an outrageous 80's comedy classic with Zucker, Zucker & Abrahams' irresistible mad mess Top Secret (1984). Trailer for Top Secret: https://youtu.be/-DQ3URc4KiM An evening with Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams: https://youtu.be/jauruv4ZPto Swedish Bookstore Scene reversed: https://youtu.be/czuC1LWcPMc All images are copyright the original owners.
For the 2020 Halloween Special Shane and Matthew head to Pittsburg to drink some blood with George A. Romero's 'Martin' from 1977. Notes: A guided tour of the locations from 'Martin': http://martinthereisnomagic.blogspot.com/ Matthew's reading recommendation: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Martin-Midnight-Movie-Monographs-Winship/dp/1786360527 Original trailer for 'Martin': https://youtu.be/NNIGTSdKPl0
Shane is joined by Adam Lowes for a bloody violent trip to the South Korean underworld in Kim Jee-woon's breathtaking A Bittersweet Life (2005). Notes: Trailer for A Bittersweet Life: https://youtu.be/q5O2tfiaTxU Comparison of DC & Theatrical: https://www.movie-censorship.com/repo... Period Variety review from Cannes 2005: https://variety.com/2005/film/markets... All images are copyright the original owners.
Matthew and Shane duke it out in the back streets of Hell's Kitchen, trying to survive on peanuts, salami and some goofy one-liners. Notes: Trailer for Paradise Alley: https://youtu.be/mxXdouKmoOY 1978 NY Times review: https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/10/archives/movies-rocky-goes-to-limbo-in-paradise-alleyrocky-as-wrestler.html
Matthew and Shane go crazy scrutinising their masculinity with Donald Cammell's 'White of The Eye' (1987). Notes: Trailer for 'White of The Eye': https://youtu.be/u4WMa5SfqJg 'White of The Eye' at the IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094320/ Arrow Films release info: https://arrowfilms.com/product-detail/white-of-the-eye-dual-format/FCD900 Kermode's excellent intro for 'White of The Eye' on BFI Player: https://youtu.be/QbOFXh2CW1Q
Shane and Matthew are cursed to battle for eternity as they slice through Kihachi Okamoto’s The Sword of Doom from 1966. Notes: 2017 article on Tatsuya Nakadai: https://www.filmcomment.com/article/tastuya-nakadai-the-sword-of-doom/ The Sword of Doom at Criterion: https://www.criterion.com/films/925-the-sword-of-doom The Sword of Doom HD Trailer: https://youtu.be/FGhpT8PGslA
Matthew and Shane get their brains sucked dry by David Cronenberg's horror/thriller Scanners from 1981. Notes: Scanners at the IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081455 Stephen Lack interview at Film Comment: https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/interview-stephen-lack/ UK 'X' certificate trailer for Scanners: https://youtu.be/tqvPviqbb4c